CHAPTER 2 #3
He blinked slowly at me, as if the question had to register in his brain.
One eyelid even moved a little slower than the other, making him look kind of drunk.
It was almost like watching an old computer reboot and turn on at a snail’s pace.
It was, honestly, kind of painful to witness.
And so endearingly adorable. It also made me want to snort with laughter.
But that would have been wildly inappropriate.
Because what I had done – reanimated a corpse to fulfill my lacking love life – most certainly wasn’t.
“I’m Victor,” I told him as I tapped on my chest.
“Victor,” he repeated slowly. His voice was a little clearer, a low-pitched rumble that made me shiver.
I nodded, feeling silly for asking this but I needed to make sure he was, well, conscious. And that I hadn’t scrambled his brain when I’d shocked him multiple times. “Do you understand me?” I asked, and when he stiffly nodded in return, I added, “I brought you back.”
He tilted his head to the side like some adorable little puppy, and I couldn’t help but smile. Well... I looked him up and down where he sat, certainly not little.
“You... Oh, how do I put this gently.” I scratched my head. “You died. So, I brought you back to life.”
His dark brows scrunched together with what I assumed was concern. Or confusion? I couldn’t really tell with him.
“Do you remember anything? About your past life?”
He didn’t respond for several seconds before he stiltedly shook his head.
“What about your name?”
Again, another head shake.
“Well, you could go by your old name, Camden,” I told him. “But you can pick something else. Something new, if you want.”
Those dull and glazed eyes drifted past me to land on the bookshelf along the wall to my back.
I watched as he squinted, his mouth falling open as he struggled to read the words on the spines of the books lining the shelves.
His head cutely lilted sideways to see them better.
It seemed he remembered how to read at least, as he spoke,
“Frank.”
I nodded, “Oka-”
“Tom.” He quickly spouted a different name. Then. “Julia” and “Rebecca” and “Andrew.”
Okay, now he was just reading off the names of authors on my shelf. I slapped my palm to my forehead. To my bemusement, he gazed curiously down at his open palm then mimicked me by slapping his own hand to his brow, with far more force than I had.
This time I couldn’t help the laugh that burst from me. Those pale eyes grew wide at the sound, and I swore I saw a smile tug at the corner of his still slightly blue-tinged lips.
“Then maybe you just keep your name. How about it, Camden? Or Cam for short?”
His chin bobbed up and down in quiet, almost shy agreement.
“Well then, first thing’s first. Dang, I never thought I would say this to anyone in my bedroom,” I muttered under my breath, then louder. “We need to get you into some clothes.”
I rose to my feet and Cam clumsily followed suit. When he reached his full, towering height, my head tilted backwards as I maintained his gaze. I let out a disbelieving huff,
“Satan, you’re taller than I thought. What were you, a linebacker?”
He tilted his head again, an action I had quickly deduced to mean he was confused and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“Never mind. Let’s see what I can find.”
***
When morning came, I hadn’t gotten any more sleep. I’d been too busy trying to get Cam to talk more as I peppered him with questions. Most of which went unanswered, but that didn’t bother me in the slightest.
I had actually done it. I’d successfully brought a corpse back to life. Hah! Take that, depression!
After wiping the crusted mixture from him with a warm wet cloth, I’d set on raiding my closet.
It was next to impossible to get this tree of a man into my clothes.
My baggiest t-shirt was stretched taught across his broad chest and shoulders.
The largest sweatpants I owned were several inches too short, exposing his ankles, and the seam across his ass looked ready to burst. My eyes kept drifting to the significant dick print below his navel, because obviously none of my underwear would fit this guy.
After I eventually made my way downstairs with Cam as my adorable, clingy new shadow, I put on the biggest, strongest pot of coffee and whipped up some of my famous French toast. And, because it was fall, I added a bit of pumpkin spice to the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
I was a basic-ass bitch and ‘twas the season. Sue me.
At first, Cam didn’t seem to know what to do with the plate of food as evidenced by the way he poked at it with his fork and squinted at it suspiciously.
A reanimated corpse was a curious thing.
After topping each of our portions off with a healthy dose of syrup, I dug into mine and he eventually did the same.
The pleased little hum he made after the first bite made my stomach squirm with delight.
After depositing the dishes in the sink to deal with later, I realized that I would have to be leaving for work in about fifteen minutes. But I now had the perfect adorable excuse to take the long-needed vacation that was well overdue.
I pulled up the text thread with the dean’s assistant and shot him a quick message, giving him the best excuse I could think of for needing a week off at the last minute.
The message showed sent, then read, and then, five seconds later my phone was ringing.
“Shit,” I cursed and dropped my phone onto the counter.
Cam jumped, surprised by my surprise, so I reached up and patted his head. Shit, his hair was so soft.
I grabbed my phone with a sigh of annoyance. I had texted him for a reason. If I wanted to chat, I would have called. As soon as my finger pressed the answer button, I was immediately assaulted with a concerned,
“Oh goodness, Victor, are you okay? I am so sorry for your loss,” Charlie said, voice thick with sympathy.
I cringed, “Um, thanks.”
“You must be just so shaken up. Your sister, my goodness. Were you two close?”
My sister? I rapidly skimmed over the paragraph I had typed up and realized belatedly that… yep. I had indeed told him that my sister had passed away unexpectedly.
I didn’t even have a sister.
Lucky for me, Charlie didn’t know much about me. Not many did. I kept to myself as much as possible. It was, like, a requirement for hermits.
“Yeah, we were. Super close,” I said solemnly. “So, like I mentioned, I’m going to need some time to-”
“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing, Victor,” Charlie assured me.
“You take the next two weeks. Spend some time with your family. The semester will be on holiday for a week the end of this month anyway. You know how big Halloween is around here. Plus, your students’ semester projects are already well underway, so we’ll just have a sub step in for you.
You’re not missing much. You just take as much time to grieve as you need, and call if you need anything. ”
“Thanks.” When the call didn’t immediately end, I cleared my throat, “Well, I’ve ‘gotta go, so...”
“Yes yes, alright. Take care!”
I hung up and set my phone to do not disturb. When I glanced up, Cam was watching me intently, almost expectantly. I saw him glance at my phone then back to me, question in his filmy eyes.
“My phone?” I asked him.
But he shook his head and instead hesitantly reached out to grab my bandaged hand holding the object. He pulled my phone free to set it gently on the table before examining my shoddy first-aid. I had completely forgotten to heal it up.
His touch left me flustered, but I didn't dare pull away or move too quickly lest I spook him.